1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and method for processing a workpiece, and more particularly to a processing apparatus and method for processing a workpiece such as a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate, and a crystal substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a processing apparatus for processing various workpieces, a workpiece to be processed is held in a process chamber and processed under predetermined conditions in the process chamber. FIG. 15 is a conceptional plan view showing a relationship between a workpiece to be processed and a process chamber in a conventional processing apparatus. In the conventional processing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 15, a workpiece 10 is disposed in a process chamber 100 kept under predetermined conditions, and is then processed therein. Thus, the conventional processing apparatus requires a process chamber larger than the workpiece 10 in order to contain the workpiece 10 therein.
Semiconductor wafers, liquid crystal panels, or the like tend to become larger in size in accordance with the advance of the generation of technology. Therefore, for processing workpieces in these fields, such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates, and crystal substrates, the process chamber of the processing apparatus becomes larger in size because of larger workpieces, resulting in a larger installation space for the processing apparatus.